


Sanctuary

by Valerine



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, Chaptered, Drama, M/M, Romance, some band!fic moments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-07 04:39:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valerine/pseuds/Valerine
Summary: Daniel is a famous street dancer who is pursuing stardom together with his other members. Jihoon is a troubled model who is seeking for freedom. On one fateful night, they met each other and it was the start of an intricate collision between the life of Kang Daniel and Park Jihoon.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am a new Wanna One fan, just got into the fandom this week. The reason I got into the fandom is because of Jihoon and Daniel, and I really fall hard for these 2 guys immediately. I think they look freaking good together and I'm surprised the fandom doesn't have too many stories about them??? Guys, we have a responsibility to make the NielWink ship grow!!!! And thus the reason I'm gonna start posting stories for my new sweetheart OTP XDD
> 
> For information, this story will be in 1st POV. Annnnnd there will be some explicit contents in future chapters. Please leave a comment if you like the story, thanks!

“Look here.” The cameraman motioned to me.

I automatically let my eyes follow him while putting on a smile. 

“Nice one, Jihoon.” He continued commenting between the flashes of camera. “That is really good.” 

I pasted the smile on my face for about an hour more while doing different poses, showcasing the colourful summer clothes that I am supposed to advertise for the summer issue. The memories of prior night practicing poses in front of the mirror all coming to mind as I flaunted off the clothes and accessories looking as best as I could. Afterall, I have to work hard and do my best for every chance of doing photoshoot like this. 

“Okay, that’s a wrap!” The cameraman shouted, putting down his camera and clapped. I heaved a sigh of relief as I fanned myself. 

“Good job, Jihoon! Good job, everyone!” Voices cheered throughout the set. 

The cameraman and I then went to the computer to review the photos that had been taken. We went through the whole photos, him commenting and deciding which one that was good enough to be featured in the summer issue later. I nodded to every one of his comments, agreeing when he pointed to a particular photo of me which had me boyishly holding onto my cap and bag strap, smiling brightly and the lightings hitting my face in all the perfect angles making the whole picture shine. I was thinking this photo looked the best out of the others too. 

After concluding the review, I thanked and bowed the cameraman and the staffs.

“Our brand is very keen to have you continuing to model for us. So if you are still interested, we may arrange another photoshoot with you in the future.” I could see that he is pleasantly satisfied with the result today from the way he is talking to me positively.

“Yes, of course! I’d be happy to model for you again in the future.”

“Then I’ll call you again later.”

“Thank you! I’ll be waiting for your call.” I bowed profusely, smiling happily knowing that I had done a good job today. After that, I left the set and went into the changing room. I changed back to my own clothes but opted to leave the makeup on because I was too lazy to remove it. I need to be in time to catch the next bus home. 

I walked out of the studio. It was dark outside, and there weren’t many people walking on the streets. As the shine and glimmers of the job was left behind, I felt like a normal person again. I had been a model for 2 years, modeling for any jobs that was offered to me. At first I just started with small simple jobs like being a textbook model or poster model. Then slowly as I gained more experience and more exposure, job offers started to come to me more and just a few months ago my modeling career started to soar when a magazine company offered me to be their model. Since then, other companies have also started to take notice of me and giving me job offers.

For 2 years, I felt happy doing what I was good at doing. My career in modeling was going well. 

But not everything in life was going that well to me. My parents opposed to me doing this when I told them I’m going to choose model as my job. Because to them, I should focus on studying since I’m still in school. This year as I started my senior year in high school, their reprimands became worse because I was dedicating too much time to modeling and not enough time studying. I was honestly drained staying at home listening to them but not being able to say anything. 

And that was why I decided to pass by the bus stop area and went further into the streets, feeling too exhausted at the idea of going back home because I knew my parents usually come back from work at this time. If I go back home now, I would be faced with that same displeased look they always gave me for disobeying their orders. There were a few times I did feel maybe I should give up on modeling, especially those times when I hit a slump when I couldn’t get any jobs for months and then not being supported by my parents. When I chose to enter the modeling world, my parents stopped giving me any money for daily expenses, but I was still allowed to stay at the house and eat the foods the maid prepared for me. 

And honestly, I was okay with just that. The money for my daily expenses, I earned from the jobs I did and I was proud to be independent and not relying on my parents for it. 

Yet, the truth is I just don’t feel close enough with them to even ask anything from them. Not even close enough to feel comfortable being in the house when they are in.

The city lights were beautifully lighted around me, and I just continued on as I passed row after row of shophouses. I noticed guys and girls who looked around my age were hanging out together at the sidestreets, chattering loudly and laughing aloud. One of the girl caught sight of me, staring at me for a while before she said something to her friends. I ignored them and hastily went past their group, feeling conscious of all of them staring at me now, the girls giggling at me for reasons I didn’t know why.

In the distance, I saw people gathering around in an open area. Feeling curious, I went to join the crowd. It was noisy, and people were cheering and shouting excitedly. I made my way into the crowds, only to see a group of boys in the center of all the attention. 

There were 10 of them, and they were having a dancing show. It was mostly freestyle dancing, and there was one guy who stuck out when he started doing windmills, headspins and all that crazily cool B-boy stuffs that I had only seen in videos in internet, so I couldn’t help but to watch him in awe. The guy had stylish blond hair, broad-looking shoulders, manly dancer figure with muscles peeking through his shirt. He was also the only guy with blonde hair in the group so it was easy to spot him. My ears almost went deaf when the girl beside me screamed so loud the moment that blonde guy pulled up his shirt to tease in the middle of the show, revealing his oh so glorious well-defined abs. 

Eventhough I didn’t scream like the girl beside me did, but I knew I somehow was fanboying over this guy inwardly. Actually the whole team was great, with their teamwork in-synch, cool and catchy dance routines, everyone really performed amazingly but my eyes seemed to be stuck on that blond guy more than the others and I really couldn’t tear my eyes off whenever he started doing his crazy spinnings. By the time it ended, I realized it had felt like it was too short. I wanted to see more. 

I watched as the crowds dissipated around me, leaving only a few people here and there. Mostly, the girls stayed back so when the group went off to the side to pack up, the girls hurried to them to give them gifts. It seemed like the group had been performing here for a while to be able to have all these fans. 

I didn’t know any single one of the members name, I didn’t even know if the group had a name. 

I stood awkwardly from a distance, just looking at the members receiving gifts from the girls while thanking them. The girl beside me turned out to be one of their fans as well, and I watched as she walked up to the blonde guy and gave him some food that she had packed in cute-looking containers. The blonde guy smiled, and that was when I realized it. This guy had a really unique smile. And his face too, such a good-looking face…

I continued watching as the girl went off after giving the food, squealing as she joined her other girlfriends. Then I looked back to the blonde guy, and got a shock. He was looking at me too. It was a distance, but I knew our eyes met. We stared at each other for a while before I realized how he was still not looking away and I started to think that it was getting more and more awkward as the seconds passed so I was the first to tear away my gaze. Not wasting anymore time, I turned around and walked off the scene as fast as I can. 

\---

Came the next day, I had difficulty waking up early because last night I was so tired and I arrived home really late, probably past midnight. Thankfully, my parents had already went to bed by the time I came home and when I woke up they were already gone for work. 

The discipline teacher caught me at the front of the school gate for being late. But he was known for being weak to cuteness, and I was known for being able to pull off cuteness perfectly since I was born. The moment he saw me, he gave up and just let me in. I cackled the whole way to the classroom. 

In class, I spent the whole day feeling bored and sleepy, not paying attention to any of the lessons. Studies were something that I’m not good at, and I knew no matter how hard I tried I can never be the model student that my parents always wanted me to be. I yawned as I buried my face into my arms on the table, closing my eyes only to remember about what had happened yesterday. That amazing group with their amazing dance, that blonde guy with crazy b-boy techniques, the sound of the music booming through the speakers and the loud cheerings of the crowd-

Everything felt so grandiose it made even me, who always felt so monotonous, to feel adrenaline pumping through my veins, driving an unexplainable heat to rush throughout my whole body. I could still remember how my heart was beating so fast, so alive-

It was the first time I’ve ever had that kind of feeling and I loved it so much.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am constantly inspired to write these days thanks to all the fan videos of the boys and especially of my OTP <3\. And because of this, I really wanna write more and update faster but I'm constrained by the lack of time due to my studies. But I will still try my best to finish the story because I really have ideas planned out for the story. Just waiting to write them down XD. Leave a comment if you like the story, thanks!

“Kang Daniel, you’re spacing out again.” A finger snapped in front of my face and I was startled to the present. 

“Huh..what?”

In front of me, Jisung sighed. “I said you’re spacing out again. For the tenth time in a row. Just what are you thinking right now?” He narrowed his eyes and peered closer to my face, genuinely curious. When I looked around, I realized the other members were also looking at me in confusion. 

“Sorry…what are we talking about again?”

“Yeah. Guess I have to repeat what we are talking about to him again for the tenth time.” Seungwoo sighed dramatically. “Assssss. Iiiiiii. Mentioneddddd. Beforeeeee.” He drawled out one word after another. “We are in a discussion to plan about our next dance routine, so we need ideas from everyone and I think we’ve been waiting for ten minutes to get ideas from you but since you spaced out ten times in ten minutes so we are kind of stuck here.”

“Oh, yeah.” I just remembered Jisung asking me to be the dance choreographer for this routine yesterday and that I had agreed to his request. 

But I just can’t get my mind off from that guy I met yesterday night. That moment when our eyes met, I really couldn’t look away. He was a guy, but he looked so damn pretty. No girls I had seen before in my life had come close to how pretty he was. He had really really really pretty eyes that even now when I think about it, I can’t help but to linger at that image of that eyes looking into mine. And his lips also looked really soft and delicious.

God, that face is really the face of an angel from heaven.

Only then I realized I had just spoken my mind out loud to everyone in the room.

Oh…shit…Is what I could think of as I saw their face morphed.

“KANG DANIEL IS IN LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!” Seongwoo shouted.

Then Jaehwan. “Holy god of love, did he really said those cheesy vomit-inducing words just now?” 

Daehwi was clapping enthusiastically and cheering loudly. Jisung, Minhyun and Woojin had both their eyes and mouth gaped open wide. Meanwhile Guanlin, Jinyoung, and Sungwoon were laughing their asses off.

Oh…shit…I facepalmed.

\---

For the past 5 hours, I had my hands full fending off these 9 childish bastards who kept bothering me and insisting asking who was my angel from heaven. Even when we were dancing, they didn’t stop bothering me. Especially a certain nosy hyung who went by the name of Yoon Jisung as he kept putting his face in front of me and prodded me to spill.

“Are you crushing on someone? Since when? For all the years we knew each other, this is really the first time I see you being like this.” He slapped my shoulder to get my attention while question after question were thrown in my direction. I tried to run away as best as I can but he always managed to catch me in the end.

“God…You guys are so annoying.” 

“Then answer us before we become even more annoying~” Sungwoon, with a naughty look directed to him, sang as he flopped beside me on the sofa. 

“Yeah, c’mon hyung. Just spill it out, already.” Daehwi chirruped, perching his face nosily too at the side of the sofa.

“Who is it? Is it a random girl? Or a girl from your hometown? Or that ex of yours from high school who went to overseas?” Jisung poked my shoulder, sitting on my other side. 

I sighed heavily, first regretting over my wretched mouth and second because I really was not sure if I should tell them that the subject of their interest is actually a guy. But it was no denying that I kind of…had a crush on this guy. But it was confusing me because I had always thought I was straight. It really had never occured to me that I would be okay with guys too.

I looked at Jisung who was sitting beside me, with his face in front of me looking at me expectantly. 

I desperately need to know if I’m gay right now. 

I closed my eyes, and closed the distance between our face.

…...

“FUCK!” 

I pulled my lips away as if I got burnt. Fuck, fuck, fuck, that felt so fucking wrong and terrible and just disgusting- 

Why the fuck did I think about kissing this guy in the first place. I must be going crazy.

“What the hell, Daniel!!!” Sungwoon and Daehwi who had witnessed the scene shouted as they fell onto the floor rolling with laughter, tears threatening to spill from their eyes. On the other hand Jisung had become frozen at his spot, looking as if his soul had flown away.

“Fuck, sorry Jisung-hyung. I swear I didn’t mean anything by kissing you. I swear I just wanted to test- anyways, the kiss felt disgusting so don’t worry it means I absolutely don’t have any feelings for you and don’t like kissing you for that matter- no wait I’m sorry I didn’t mean it in a bad way-”

Daehwi and Sungwoon laughed even harder after I had said that, it was such a commotion that the other members rushed in wondering what had happened. With difficulty, Daehwi explained what had happened between his gasps of laughter. Soon, the other members more or less were also on the floor laughing. 

But I was honestly feeling really apologetic for what had happened. I tried to shake Jisung back to life. When he finally came back to his senses, he lunged at me all the while screaming murder about how he’s going to kill me. I panicked and had to use force to restrain him and calm him down.

As a result, the whole room was in chaos the whole evening.

Thankfully, Jisung calmed down after a while. But he kept shooting me death glares that it made me uncomfortable just to be within 1m radius from him. So I had escaped from the room, planning to just sleep in the living room until Jisung’s anger had steamed off. 

I sighed. This is all that pretty guy’s fault. Now that I think about it, if I felt that the kiss with Jisung is disgusting, then…I am not gay? Yet, I still feel a strong desire to kiss that insanely pretty red lips. I heaved another sigh, running my hand through my hair in exasperation.

I’ve dated some girls before. But none of them had ever made me feel like this. He was just a stranger among the many strangers in the crowds. Yet, why is this stranger’s face the only thing that keeps appearing in my mind? I swear I’m really going crazy for only being able to think about him every minute.

And I’m also going crazy realizing that it is possible that we might not be able to meet again because I knew nothing about him.

With that troubling thought running in my mind, I spent a sleepless night tossing and turning around uneasily on the sofa all the while cursing myself for not chasing after that guy when I had the chance.

\---

Ah…So hot. 

I wiped the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. 

Today the sun was glaring strong in the sky, and I felt burnt under its gaze. But it was Sunday, and I wanted to go out since there were no classes today. When I woke up today, I realized that all the members were not at home. I messaged Seongwoo who was my roommate and asked him where he went, and he told me he was out to watch movies with Jaehwan and Jisung. And he also explained honestly that he didn’t wanna bring me because firstly, I always wake up late and secondly because Jisung is still angry at me and it’d be better if I don’t come. As for the other members, they had plans for the day.

And that was how I ended up alone roaming the city, wondering what to do for the day. But God…it really felt too hot for me to be outside. 

In the end, I opted to go into a manga cafe, intending to just spend my whole day reading mangas.

As I entered the cafe, my eyes suddenly caught sight of the magazines on the rack near the entrance. Normally, I don’t even care about magazines, but this time something had caught my attention immediately making my eyes linger on them longer than necessary.

There was someone who looked like the guy I met the other day, who by now I called him by the name of ‘pretty stranger’, on the front page of the magazine. He was not on the magazine cover picture, but he was in a small picture at the side with the caption underneath it that read “Hottest Summer Fashion for the Year”. My eyes widened as I looked more carefully at the guy in the picture. Suddenly I felt a thrill of excitement mixed with happiness rushing through me, thinking that a chance had miraculously presented itself to me again after I thought I had lost it. 

There was no doubt that the pretty stranger I met and the guy in the picture looked the same. 

…So he is a model. 

Without wasting any time, I took the magazine from the rack and found a place to sit. Flipping through the pages, I ignored other contents and only stopped when I spotted him on one of the page. 

In that page, there was a series of picture of him cheerfully posing for the summer collections. I couldn’t help but to be entranced with his smiling face. If before this I only knew that he had really pretty eyes and lips, but now seeing his smiling face I really became speechless thinking how such a perfect-looking face can possibly exist. 

Then I saw his name written below the page. Tracing a finger over his name, I read it to myself. “Park. Ji. Hoon.” The name rolling off my tongue sounded as beautiful as its owner. Before I realized it, a huge grin had crept onto my face.

I’ll be sure to get him this time.


	3. Chapter 3

I’m feeling excited. And it’s because I’m going there again tonight. The same place where I saw the group the first time. I had managed to ask the girl beside me the other day, and according to her the group usually performed at that place once a week which is on every Friday. 

I really had been looking forward to Friday the whole week. After I saw them the other day, whenever I had time I tried to practice dancing on my own. 2 years ago, I was still dancing a lot, doing dance performances in various school events. However, when my modeling career started, I started focusing more on learning how to model and slowly the time I spent on dancing become lesser and lesser. That day, when I saw how cool those guys were dancing to the music, I suddenly felt a familiar feeling of adrenaline rush which was forgotten from 2 years ago overwhelming me once again. It heated me up, bringing back a strong sense of thrill and excitement that I had really missed.

Since then, I’ve been re-learning all the routines I used to practice back then, hoping I could be as cool as them. And that blonde guy, I wished to see him again. I really couldn’t help but to admire him. From the way he moved and danced to the way he made his facial expressions, everything about him screamed strength and confidence. It made him look really cool. I had always admired guys like him who just embodied confidence as if its his second skin. 

After school ended, I went back home and changed into casual clothes before heading off. The place was a bit too far to walk, so I had to use bus to get there. By the time I reached the place, it was already 8.30pm.

As I looked around, crowds were already gathering around. It seemed like the group had garnered a lot of attention as I noticed the crowds were as large as the crowds from last week. I sat down on one of the stairs that overlooked the open area. 

Come to think of it, isn’t this place really close to that famous art university? Probably all the crowds are people from the university judging by their appearance alone.

As I wondered these to myself, a commotion was occuring somewhere nearby. When I turned to look, I saw the group making their way through the crowds. The 10 of them like before. Today, all of them were wearing black clothes as if it was their theme. And from afar, I could already see the blonde head of the guy that I admired. There he was again with his overflowing charisma and confidence. Today he looked particularly handsome as he weared a dress shirt with black coat and half of his hair was slicked back giving him a superior impression.

I gulped when I noticed they were coming closer, heading in my way. I quickly stepped to the side, giving way as they proceeded to go past me. Just like that, I felt their strong presence taking over not only me but also the attention of the crowds around me. The blonde guy was the last in the line to pass through, once in a while flashing a smile when the girls called out to him. I just kept still and silent as I savoured the image of him from a close view, feeling a sense of awe. 

Just at the moment when he was about to pass by me, his eyes fell on me. And he stopped dead in his track. I could see surprise registered in those eyes, and they did not move away from me for quite a while.

I blinked. He had turned to face me, looking at my face. 

“Hey.” He said. I blinked another time, then looked to my left and right, wondering if he was talking to someone else. “I’m talking to you.” He was grinning at me, looking amused. I blinked up at him again. Only then I noticed how much taller he was than me.

“Me?” I pointed to myself, still not understanding what was happening. 

“Yes, you.” He sounded amused too. “I’m sorry but can you come with me?” Despite asking that, he didn’t even bother to wait for my answer, merely grabbing onto my wrist and pulling me with him. I heard the girls squealed behind me.

“W-Where are we going?” I managed to ask while struggling to follow after him, confusion and panic clear in my voice. 

“Closer to the front.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to lose sight of you in the crowds.” 

“What…?” What does he mean by that? And why? I was really confused and flustered, but I didn’t manage to ask him anything because he was already seating me in an empty spot really near to where his group was standing. He then crouched down and looked at me straight in the eyes. In that moment, our faces were so close to each other that my sight was completely engulfed by his eyes which I thought looked really charming up close. “My name is Kang Daniel. I’d like it if you just call me Daniel. I just thought I’d want to give you the best view if you’re going to stay and watch our show.”

“But why…”

“I really wish I can talk to you right now…but the show is going to start soon. Would it be okay to talk with you again after the show ends? Will you be staying until then?” He asked me in a soft, almost hopeful voice. 

My lips parted open and close a few times, not knowing what to say. Yet, as I looked into his eyes which were as if begging me to say yes, I realized I didn’t even have the heart to refuse. So I was only able to mutter a soft ‘yes’ in return, which immediately brought a big grin to his face. “Great.” He said.

He then left me and went off to join his other team members. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I had been holding in.

The show started off with a fast tempo song. The members got into their respective formation and started dancing. My eyes were mostly glued to Daniel from the beginning to the end of the show. In the middle of the show, they had another fast tempo song, but the feel of the song was much more sensual than the first one. And I was flustered at how Daniel kept on glancing at me, flashing a cheeky smile whenever he got the chance. As usual, he looked cool dancing to the song, but it was his sexiness that was more overpowering. Yet another side of him that I discovered, and I couldn’t help but to think about how this guy seemed to be able to embody the different personas within him so well.

With the last song fading off in the background, the show finally came to an end. All of the members lined up and thanked the audience for coming to watch them. In return, the audience clapped and cheered loudly for them. After that, the crowds began to clear and some of the fans stayed back to give gifts to the members. I stayed unbudging at my spot, watching as Daniel said something to the other members before leaving them. He rushed towards me, looking amazing with beads of sweat covering his forehead and some running down his neck. The first few buttons of his shirt was already unbuttoned, probably because he was feeling hot. 

He smiled as he seated himself in front of me. “How was the show?”

“I really enjoyed it.” After I said that, I became distracted with the sweat that was covering his face and neck. Without thinking, I took the handkerchief that I had in my hoodie pocket and offered to him. He blinked at the handkerchief in my hand before looking back at me. “You’re sweating a lot.” I gestured to his face.

At first, he looked caught off-guard but then moved to accept the handkerchief I held out to him with a huge smile. “Thanks.”

Then he proceeded to wipe the sweat off with my handkerchief. I was staring, I know. And he knew it too. 

“Is there something on my face?” He laughed.

I looked away in embarrassment. “Not really. But I’d really like to know why you dragged me with you earlier.”

“Ah, I’ll tell you. But first, lets go get something to eat? Are you hungry?” He moved to stand up.

I suddenly feel irritated at being pushed around like this without understanding what was happening. I stood up too, facing him with a frown. “Why are you acting so familiar with me? Do you even know my name?” 

“Yeah.” He answered easily.

“How?” My frown deepened.

“I saw you in a magazine yesterday. You’re the model, Park Jihoon.” 

Magazine? Was he talking about the magazine on my recent photoshoot? If so, then I guessed it made sense that he knew me then. Nevertheless, I still don’t understand what his intention is exactly. 

“I’m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable. It’s just that-” He scratched his head. “I want to be friends with you.” 

Just a minute ago I was annoyed, but now I suddenly felt ridiculously funny at this unexpected revelation.

I mean I’m the one who’s been admiring him because he looks cool and can dance well, so opposite from me. So it’s amazing to witness him having a hard time in front of me right now as he asked me to become his friend. Honestly it’s flattering enough that he even managed to notice me among all the crowds and approaching me so boldly like this. 

“But why do you want to be friends with me suddenly?” My voice became small and inquisitive, merely pure curiousity on my part.

He looked conflicted for a second there, thinking hard about something. Then he looked up at me, his troubled gaze meeting mine. “I know this may sound weird… But the first time I saw you, I felt this strong feeling of wanting to be closer to you.” 

I felt my cheeks heating up at his answer. 

Admittedly, it did feel weird and embarrassing to have a guy telling me this, but I kind of felt special at the same time. And it was a good feeling.

He scratched his head, looking apologetic. “I’m sorry, if its too much of a burden for you, then its okay…” 

At that moment, he really looked like a kicked puppy with its ears drooped. I couldn’t help but to melt a little. 

“Ah, no, no… I’m okay with it. I’d love to be friends with you.” I gave a small laugh, then holding out a hand in front of him as a sign of friendship.

He looked at my hand before his eyes visibly lit up, and at that moment I thought I discovered another side of him. He was grinning from ear to ear, eyes crinkling at the ends and I realized just how adorable this guy can be too. 

Before I could even process what was happening, he pulled my hand towards him and engulfed me in a big hug. His arms wrapped themselves around my body, crushing the breath out of me from how tightly he was holding me. And I mentally noted just how strong he was. Then abruptly he released me causing me to almost lost my balance. But luckily he managed to hold back onto my arm and steadied me back. At that moment, our eyes met and we couldn’t help but to laugh.

Later, he invited me to eat together at McDonald’s. As I spent time with him, I learnt that Kang Daniel was actually an adorable chatterbox. He kept on talking and talking, making jokes and laughing about practically nothing. Once, I was just scratching my brow and he had burst out laughing because he thought it was funny. The on-stage Daniel was really different from the real life Daniel. It was surprising, but knowing he was easygoing in nature like this made me feel comfortable to be around him. 

I also learnt that Daniel was a student from the nearby art university. Most of the members were also in the same university as him, exception for 4 of the members who were still in high school like I am. And all of them lived together in a rented dorm. He also learnt that I lived 1 hour away from him and that before I started modeling, I was also a dancer.

“I didn’t know you dance too. I’d have to check out your moves sometime later.”

“But I’m not that good. I’m still learning.”

“I’m still learning too. We can practice together sometimes if you want.”

The offer was really tempting. Afterall, I really liked watching him dance. And having a one-on-one session with him like that, I’d have the chance to learn personally from him. 

He folded his arms on the table, resting his cheek on them languidly as he looked up sideways at me. “Just tell me when you’re free. If I’m free too at that time, we can meet up again.” He said to me gently, almost too affectionately as he gave a gentle smile.

I couldn’t possibly resist.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the drama starts ;)

We exchanged phone numbers before we parted that day. And starting from that day onwards, we started messaging each other. Whenever I have free time I would message Daniel and he would do the same. Then we would plan to meet up, after that spending time together either practicing our dancing or just simply hanging out somewhere to relieve boredom and stress. I still always attend Daniel’s and his members’ dance show every Friday and cheer for them from the sidelines.

 

In a short period of time, we became close really fast. Over that period of time, we actually came to discover that we had a lot of things in common. One of them was that he’s also the only child in the family, but I didn’t dare to explore too in depth about his family in fear he will ask about mine. Another thing that we had in common and also one of the reason that made us click together so fast was because both of us loved playing games, and we both were good at them. Daniel was almost the same level as me in games, and so naturally we made a good pair in all the games we played and time passed by just like that with us playing games and having lots of fun together.

 

Before I realized it, it had already been one month since we became friends. And with it, we became closer as we knew about each other more.

 

Daniel is probably the first real friend I had made for a while now. I had forgotten the last time I even had a close friend. Ever since I entered high school, a lot of things had happened. The realization that I wasn’t living the kind of life I wanted hitting me hard and that was when everything started going awry between me and my parents. My parents wanted me to become the perfect model student who excelled in academics and everything school-related. For the first time in my life, I had felt the burden pressing down so hard on my shoulders that I became crushed under them. I didn’t realize that I had lived my life so pitifully until then, and I went into a period of slump and depression not knowing who I was supposed to be. But one day, someone from a modeling agency scouted me and offered me a job. At first I accepted it because it sounded interesting going through a new experience and I could get some pocket money for myself from it, but I didn’t expect to gain so much more from it. My passion for modeling. Doing the job, it was also the first time I got complimented for something that I did on my own accord and I wanted to remember how it felt because I realized I had finally felt sure of what I wanted to do my life for once. For once in my life, I had a purpose. For me to live on, for me to achieve. From then onwards, I managed to pull myself back up from the slump that I was in and focused on my modeling career.

 

And with the sacrifice I made for my career, I sacrificed a privilege to live life having friends around me. With the fame I gained, I couldn’t make real friends. Mostly wanted to become friends with me for the fame alone, putting on fake pretense that I could sense from a mile away. Meanwhile some others despised me for it eventhough I did nothing wrong to them.

 

Like now. I couldn’t understand why I’m in this situation, being cornered by a group of boys who looked like they were ready to beat me up as they sneered and made fun of me. A guy who had the largest built among all of them pushed me to the wall and stepped closer to me as he looked at me up and down challengingly. “I don’t know whats so special about you.”

 

“Just his pretty face. Or else he’s just trash.” Someone from behind said, followed by loud rounds of laughter around me.

 

Park Jihoon will never stay still for being humiliated like this. Its just one of my motto in life.

 

“But probably better than trash like you guys who degrade other people just to protect your own self-esteem.”

 

There were silence. They probably weren’t expecting me to retort back so daringly like this.

 

“...What the fuck did you just say?” The large guy, who had joined in to laugh at me earlier, had now turned back to face me with a menacing glare, fisting my collar and pulling me up with strength.

 

“Fuck off.” I growled through my gritted teeth as I leveled his glare. Honestly, I knew I was doing something crazy. I knew this guy I’m facing right now is well-known for being in the judo club. I knew I had no chance against him. Yet, I’m still picking a fight against him even right at this moment.

 

My pride just wouldn’t allow me to beg for their mercy.

 

When he still didn’t let go off me, I punched him in the face. And from there, all hell broke loose. In a matter of seconds, shouts filled the air and bodies launched against me. A fist connected to my cheek and I was punched across the face, subsequently stumbling back a few steps before another guy pushed me down and trapped my body between his thick thighs. He was raining down punches on me until another loud shout sounded from a distance. Immediately I felt the huge weight on my abdomen lifted off and I could only register the fact that I could breath again as I inhaled as much air as I could while fighting against the tears that pricked the corner of my eyes due to the pain, not registering the fact that the guys had already dispersed and scrambled off from the scene, leaving me on the floor alone.

 

The disciplinary teacher that always greeted me at the gate came into my hazy view. I was too much in pain to even say anything to him, but I brought myself to stand anyways, albeit slowly and carefully, when he told me to. 

 

“Follow me to the office. You have an explanation to do.”

 

I realized this time the shit I got myself into was probably too serious to pull out my usual aegyo on him to escape from this. Especially not with this face that I’m sure had bruised up in many places.

 

 

 

 

The silence was heavy when I returned home later, following in tow behind my parents back who appeared stiff and unrelenting.

 

They were called to my school for what happened earlier. I had explained I fought them because they were bullying me, but in truth I also really wanted to punch them for what they said to me so I didn’t deny about punching them first. And that was enough for my parents as they got up and left, bringing me with them home.

 

And here I am. In this deafening silence of our huge cold house, under the burning scrutiny of my parents. My father was having his stoic, cold appearance as usual as he looked at me while my mother had an angry, disappointed expression on her face. I ran my tongue on my lower lip, hissing when it traced a cut. I can tell it was bleeding a bit as I felt the metallic taste on my tongue.

 

“I just ask you to be a good student in school, to study hard and get good results. Yet you cannot even do that. Instead you defy what I said, and go and pursue that lowly job that makes you sell your body for money. You shame our faces and reputation. Then now we have to receive news about you fighting with other people in school.”

 

I expected my father to say this. I knew how they are, always with those words that degrade you when you don’t achieve his expectation. And then there was my mother who would keep insisting that I follow their way of thinking.

 

“Jihoon-ah, you’re better than this. Please just think back of your decision. We are always thinking the best for you.”

 

Eventhough I knew how they are and what they would say, I still couldn’t help the anger that bubbled in my chest. For this…this unfairness, this feeling of being wronged for simply doing something that I wanted to do.

 

“How is this the best for me?” I voiced out lowly, face hidden from them.

 

“We are telling you to study, get into a good university. Once you’ve graduated, you can take over our business for us.”

 

“...And again, how is that the best for me? Its the best for you because __you__  want someone to take over your business.” I stood up, facing them this time while speaking in a voice that I tried hard to keep calm. “Did you ever think about what __I__ want instead? If you are really thinking whats the best for me, why did you never ask me even once what I really want to do?”

 

“You’re still young. You don’t know the world well. In this kind of times we live in, you think a model career will bring you stability? The money you need for 10 years, 20 years or 30 years later? You’re being ungrateful, you have parents who can ensure you a stable future yet you chose to be stupid and throw that away. So many people would love to be in your place.”

 

This is what I really hated. The superior tone in my father's voice which was always telling me I was doing it wrongly everytime. Even the way I chose to live my life is wrong.

 

I had promised to myself that I would not be affected again by what they said, yet why I still couldn’t hold back this anger? This frustration from having this contradicting feelings all the time, of uncertainty if I am really doing the right thing, the thoughts bouncing back and forth. I thought I had convinced myself that this is the way I want to live my life, but being under the control of my parents for so long I couldn’t help but to acknowledge that they still had influence on me.

 

And their influence is what I’m trying so desperately to break from. Yet, instead of breaking free from them, I felt myself breaking down instead. This is the worst.

 

Feeling overwhelmed, I left without saying another word. My mother was telling me to come back, but I heard nothing as I rushed up the stairs. I bumped into the maid on my way, and the elderly kind woman wanted to ask me if I’m okay. But I wanted to be out of sight before my tears slipped, so I ignored her and went straight into my room.

 

I reached for my bag, took out all my books and threw them on the floor. I proceeded to stuff as many clothes as I could in my bag as fast as I can, took all my savings, my phone and was out the room again in a few minutes. The maid and my mother tried to stop me when she saw me with the bag, however my father was still sitting there looking at me with a cold steeled gaze.

 

I was just about to exit through the door when he said.

 

“The moment you step out of that door, you will not get any financial support from us anymore.”

 

I stopped. Then looking back at him and my mother who was trying hard to stop me, I smiled earnestly. “I don’t need it.”

 

And left without turning back.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been years since ive started writing fics like this again honestly. so my writing is rusty, and english is not my main language so i'm sorry if there's some mistakes here and there. and thank you for all the comments, kudos, and bookmarks ive received so far ^^. i wrote the story mainly for my own enjoyment, but i'd be happy if people will enjoy my story too and show love for it. spread the nielwink love~
> 
> oh just for info so you guys won't get confused when you read it later, kkk=ㅋㅋㅋ is the way koreans laughed in their messages XD

I looked at my phone, thinking about a certain pretty boy as his face kept floating in my mind.

 

Should I call him? My finger lingered over the dial pad, already having his number on the screen. I was honestly curious what he’s been up to because its been a few days since I heard from him. These days, meeting up with him at least 2 or 3 times in a week had been kind of a routine.

 

I mussed up my hair, realizing that I’m really hopeless for not being able to get his face out of my mind. My roommates who were watching me for the past 30 minutes kept exchanging weird looks with each other. But I was too distracted to notice all these.

 

As uncool as it sounded, this is how I usually am just before I bring myself to contact Jihoon. 30 minutes of deep contemplation before I finally dared myself to press the call button.

 

I sighed heavily.

 

“This must be the 10th time you sighed in the past 30 minutes.” Jisung finally broke the silence and commented, looking exasperated.

 

“What?” I said when I realized he was talking to me.

 

“You’re making the 2 of us feel uncomfortable just from watching you.” Seungwoo added.

 

There’s a moment of silence before Jisung dared himself to ask. “Is this because of the boy that you met during our show?”

 

I snapped to alertness, sitting up hurriedly as I exclaimed. “How did you know!”

 

“Erm, its kind of obvious? You’ve been ditching us everytime after the show and went off with that guy somewhere. And ever since then, you’ve also disappeared a lot. Bet you spent all your free time these days with that guy too.” Jisung rolled his eyes.

 

I hid my face in my hands. “Please tell me only the 2 of you know about this.”

 

Jisung laughed dryly. “Ha.Ha. No. Other members probably knew one way or another. Afterall __I mean it__  when I said you’re being really obvious about it.”

 

“Yeah, sorry to say. But these days anyone who look at you can tell you’re in love. I mean everytime you come back home after your date with that guy, you become like a freaking __rainbow__ so its really hard not to notice that.” Seungwoo looked like he was imagining something before he cringed visibly.

 

God…I wanted a hole to open up and swallow me whole right now. I knew I had changed ever since I established that friendship with Park Jihoon, but I didn’t know I was being so obvious about my feelings that the other members could notice it too. I was usually open about these kind of stuffs, afterall I dated a lot back then and relationship was something that I had lots of experience in. But what made this especially embarrassing was the fact that all these while I was visibly showing how much I am in love with a guy.

 

Turned out I was still uncomfortable having people found out that I had a crush on a guy, and I am probably still in the process of accepting it. So its hard for me to know that they found out before I am even able to accept this fact myself. Thats why I never told about Jihoon to any of them. If ever they ask me about, I really am not ready to explain. Everything is still a confused mess in my mind, but despite all of that there is one thing I know for certain which will remain true regardless.

 

Its the fact that I am undeniably attracted to Park Jihoon. But I can’t really tell if its just because of fascination, infatuation, temporary crush or really…that love that they claimed it to be. Afterall this is the first time I ever had this kind of feelings for a guy, and the attraction was too strong to be brushed off as something normal.

 

“Seriously though, if you’re really dating this guy right now you have to introduce him to me. I need to see exactly what this guy has in him to be able to steal this tough Busan guy’s heart in a clean swoop. I’ve never seen Kang Daniel so smitten before.” Jisung’s face showed nothing but amusement.

 

Seungwoo poked Jisung on the shoulder. “Hyung, I figured you haven’t seen this guy properly yet haven’t you?”

 

“O, why?”

 

“You’ll understand when you face him in person later. I got a closer look at him that day because I was curious, and whew… I can understand why he could make Daniel so smitten.” Seungwoo shook his head, looking disbelieved himself as he re-imagined the scene in his head.

 

After Seungwoo had said this, Jisung’s curiousity breached the top of the roof. “Seriously? Yah Kang Daniel, you must introduce him to me when he comes again next time! If you refuse, I’ll personally approach him and introduce myself.”

 

I sighed. Now there’s no way I can escape from this. Not when Jisung kept on threatening me that he hadn’t forgotten that one precious kiss that was stolen from him so rudely by me and that he had to see if the person I was crushing on was worth having that kiss stolen.

 

Before I can say anything to that, suddenly the phone that had been silent in my hand started to ring loudly. Someone was calling. Stopping the talk, I brought my phone up and looked at the screen.

 

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the name Park Jihoon on the screen. Seungwoo and Jisung must have seen my reaction and knew who was calling because the next thing I knew they were pouncing me on the bed, gathered on my side as they forced me to hurry up and answer the call. I wanted to push them away, but the urgency of the call get to me first.

 

I brought the phone to my ear as I received the call from Jihoon, clearing my throat before I greeted him on the other side.

 

_“Hyung…”_

 

At the sound of his voice, I immediately noticed something was wrong.

 

“O, what’s wrong Jihoon-ah?” I became serious as I asked. I could feel something was off from the way he kept silent on the other side which was something that had never happened between us before. Feeling worried, I got up from the bed and left the room, leaving Jisung and Seungwoo who were still on my bed. They probably detected the sudden seriousness and knew better than to follow me.

 

When I finally got out of the dorm, and finally alone, I let myself ask again. “Tell me what happened. You don’t sound too good.”

 

_“...”_

 

“Jihoon-ah, did something happened?” By then I was really concerned because Jihoon was being so uncharacteristically quiet. The last time we met, everything was okay. I remembered the late night games we played, his laughing happy face as we won consecutively 10 times, and his excited face as he told me he wanted me to be his game partner from now on.

 

_“Hyung…I ran away from home.”_

 

“What? Why did you do that? Wait- before that where are you right now?”

 

_“At the open area where you always perform…”_

 

“Just stay there. Hyung will come and get you.”

 

In a second, I ended the call and was rushing to the place where Jihoon was waiting for me. Good thing my dorm was near to that place. So I could reach it by running in 10 minutes.

 

There, I saw him sitting huddled on an outdoor stair with his bag hugged in his arms. I panted hard, trying to catch my breath after realizing how fast I had run just to reach him as fast as possible.

 

Jihoon heard me, so he had turned around and looked at me with as much happiness as the situation allowed.

 

“Jihoon-ah, why did you run away from home?” The moment the question left my mouth, his face fell and I immediately cursed myself for asking.

 

“I…Something happened at home.” Jihoon had his face lowered, eyes looking down at his feet. He looked really troubled. But I could see that he was reluctant as of yet to tell me what had really happened at home.

 

“I understand. You can stay with me for the meantime.” I finally said. He looked up at me, and I could see the shimmer in his beautiful eyes. Then he looked down again, didn’t say anything and just nodded.

 

The trip back to the dorm was a silent one as we walked side by side, with me glancing at him once in a while. Still wondering what had happened that could make him look so distressed. I had only seen the happy side of him, so seeing this troubled side of him for the first time made me feel concerned. Something big must have happened with him and his family for him to do something this rash.

 

But for now, I’ll let him have his time and calm down at my dorm-

 

Then the realization struck me.

 

I’m gonna bring him to my dorm. I’m gonna have to let him sleep in my room. And to do that, the other members will have to meet him. For a second, I panicked. But then I calmed myself down and told myself that Jihoon is more important right now. I’ll just have to introduce him to them then kicked them out of the room, no explanations needed.

 

I let him enter the dorm, and immediately silence greeted us. Not because no one was there, but because all the other members that were gathered in the living room had noticed us. Including Jisung and Seungwoo.

 

It was Jihoon who broke the silence. “Excuse me for the intrusion…”

 

I could totally tell what’s going to happen just by looking at the shocked expression they had on their face.

 

“This is my friend, Park Jihoon. And Jihoon-ah, I never got to properly introduce you to them. The 2 guys there…” Then I proceeded to introduce him to each members. Just their names, yet it was already taking more time than I wanted.

 

“Hello, nice to meet all of you.” Jihoon gave a small smile.

 

“Jihoon is gonna be staying in my room for a while. Seungwoo-hyung, Jisung-hyung, can you 2 bunked in the other bed room for a few days?”

 

“O…” Was the only thing Jisung and Seungwoo could utter in acknowledgment as their eyes were still fixed fascinatingly on Jihoon.

 

“Okay, lets go in Jihoon-ah.” I tried my hardest to mask my discomfort as I ushered Jihoon into my room, all the while protectively shielding the younger guy from the other’s predator-like gaze.

 

The moment I was inside the room, my phone started buzzing like crazy in my pocket. Jihoon set down his bag on the table and sat on the chair. I distractedly pull out my phone and saw the many messages that were pouring in my KaTalk. They were all messages coming from the chat group with my group members.

 

_You imbecile!!!!!! Getting such a pretty one kkkk_

_Didn’t know you like that type of face kkkkk but its understandable kkkkkkk_

_Seungwoo was right, now I know why you couldn’t help yourself from liking him. He’s cute like a baby!!!!!!!!!!!_

_I could turn gay by that kind of face too kkk_

_What are you going to do with him in our sacred room????? Don’t dirty my bed!!!!!!_

 

I tried to suppress my urge to roll my eyes in annoyance in front of Jihoon as I read all the messages.

 

“Hyung.”

 

Startled, I immediately closed the chat group, making a mental note to leave a threatening message to each one of them later so that they keep their mouth shut while Jihoon was here. The last thing I wanted is to make Jihoon feel uncomfortable in this situation.

 

I sat down on my bed, facing him. “What is it?”

 

Jihoon looked guilty. “Is it really okay to stay with you?”

 

“Yeah, of course. You can stay as long as you like, don’t worry.” I smiled at him.

 

He shyly smiled at me back, and I melted. He whispered a thank you under his breath.

 

I looked at the bag he carried with him. He noticed that I was looking at it and took the bag to his lap. “I brought some clothes in the bag.”

 

“Oh, right. We can, er, put them in this drawer.” I made an effort to make some space in the drawer where I put all my clothes in. He went to my side and our shoulder bumped against each other. I unconsciously shifted away because of the close proximity. He seemed to notice it but didn’t say anything.

 

I helped him arrange his stuffs in my room for the next hour. He didn’t bring that many things, so it was not much trouble to get everything settled in. Then comes the issue of which bed for him to use. I told him to just get the lower bunk bed, which was Jisung’s, because it was convenient.

 

“Honestly I can just sleep on the sofa outside. I don’t feel good taking other people’s bed for me to sleep…” Jihoon muttered in a small voice.

 

“No, its fine. We have 2 other extra beds in the other room, so the 2 of them can sleep there and you can take this bed here for the meantime.”

 

“Oh…then, okay. Thanks, hyung.”

 

I looked at him. And I realized he was still in his school uniform.

 

“Ah, do you want to change? Meanwhile I’ll get some food ready for you.”

 

“Uhm…yeah, I’ll change. And please don’t trouble yourself too much for me, I really don’t want to burden you anymore than necessary.”

 

“Don’t worry, you’re not a burden at all. I’m doing all these because I want to do it.”

 

“Hyung…why are you being so nice to me? We’ve known each other only for a while, and today something happened yet I didn’t explain anything but you still took me in and want to care for me.” His beautiful eyes held that shimmer again. If only I could tell him that his eyes were the reason I wanted to do all these for him. For those beautiful eyes to not look so sad anymore. I wanted to comfort him, in any way I can, as much as I can, so that those beautiful eyes can look happy again.

 

Afterall, Jihoon always look the prettiest when he is happy.

 

Yet…these were all things I couldn’t say to him because of my own uncertainty. Instead I just smiled at him and patted his head. He looked up at me. I may not be able to tell him my true feelings yet, but what I do know for sure is that the fragile vulnerability I saw in him today had evoked the protective nature for him that I didn’t know existed.

 

“We may know each other for only a while, but you’re still a friend of mine. I don’t abandon a friend who is in trouble.”

 

Something unreadable flickered in Jihoon’s eyes at that moment. Before I could decipher what it was, he already had his head down. I patted his head again. “Go ahead and change. Or if you want to shower the shower will be at the end of the hallway, at your left side. I’ll be in the kitchen cooking.” I gave him another smile before leaving the room.

 

The moment the door behind me clicked shut, I was faced with 9 sets of curious amused and naughty eyes. I inwardly groaned at the sight.

 


	6. Chapter 6

I tried to ignore them as I passed by the living room, but they attacked me before I could make another step.

 

“Yayaya, didn’t know you had it in you to seduce a young innocent pretty boy into your room.” Woojin slung his arm around my shoulder excitedly, looking naughty and cheeky as he grinned with that trademark snaggletooth making itself prominent.

 

“Woah~ as expected of Daniel-hyung, you’re really something.” Guanlin was clapping his hands in amazement.

 

“I understand why you turned gay for him, but I don’t understand why he would associate himself with you. Did you offer to become his sugar daddy or something?” Jinyoung wondered aloud innocently, a finger on his chin. The others laughed.

 

“Aish, you bastards. I didn’t do anything indecent to him. And _please _,__ don’t anyone of you dare to say anything weird to Jihoon or I’ll kill you in your sleep.” I warned. If anything, their naughty grins became even bigger.

 

“Kang Daniel, so scaryyyyy~” Sungwoon and Jaehwan both cried dramatically.

 

I heaved an exhausted sigh as I left them to their own excitement. But the nosy Jisung, the mother of the group, followed me from behind and asked. “What are you doing?”

 

“Cooking.”

 

“But you don’t cook.”

 

“I don’t _usually_ cook, but I _can_ cook if I want to.” I said, taking out some ingredients for the refrigerator.

 

“Here, let me give you a hand.” Jisung offered kindly. “I have the responsibility to make our guest feel welcomed too. Afterall he’s such a baby.” He ended it with a motherly coo.

 

We prepared for dinner straightaway since its almost dinnertime. But today we made another extra helpings exclusively for Jihoon, and Jisung really went all out with his cooking skills at this time with me busily assisting him from the side. I laughed as he chopped the onions enthusiastically. “Are you Dae Janggeum, hyung?”

 

He continued showcasing his superior cooking skills in the kitchen, soon attracting the hungry boys who came into the kitchen because of the smell. A drooling Woojin tried to steal a bite, but Jisung effectively swatted his hand away before threatening him with the knife in his hand. Sungwoon and Guanlin exclaimed their amazement at the dishes they’re going to have for dinner today.

 

“Hyung, you should be a chef.” Minhyun commented in awe at the end results. He loved how the dishes were all arranged beautifully and neatly on the table, making it look as if they came from a 5-star restaurant.

 

Jisung proudly nodded as he took in all the compliments the members were showering him. “Don’t you feel happy now that you have me in the group? There’s no way you kids can live without me.”

 

As they chattered, I went off to check on Jihoon. When I got into the room, I noticed he had already changed into a pink hoodie and pink sweatpants. I stopped at the doorway, staring at him as my sight were suddenly terrorized by the colour.

 

“Wow, you’re really pink.”

 

Jihoon, who was previously reading some random books on his bed, became startled at my voice and sat up from his lying position.

 

He scratched his head sheepishly. “Well, I like pink so most of my clothes are pink.”

 

This was another thing I learned about Jihoon, but I chose not to question further on his girlish choice of colour.

 

“Dinner’s ready. Let’s eat together.” I invited him out. He followed me to the kitchen and was welcomed by all the members cheerfully. Jihoon laughed shyly as he took a seat beside me.

 

“So tell me, how did you and Daniel become friends?” Daehwi asked curiously in the middle of our dinner.

 

Jihoon looked at Daehwi then looked at me and then to the other members who were also watching curiously. His cheeks were all puffed up with food and he had to swallow it down with difficulty before he can start talking. “I met him at your dance show a month ago. He asked me if we could become friends, and I thought why not. I really like him and I’m a fan of his dancing.”

 

A resounded _‘ooooohh’_ filled the air.

 

I choked at the next thing Daehwi asked. “Don’t you ever wonder that it’s weird that he asked you to become friends out of the blue like that?”

 

I swear he’ll be my first victim tonight.

 

God, even after I told them not to-

 

My furious homicidal thoughts were cut off by Jihoon’s laugh. “You’re right. Our first meeting was a bit weird, but Daniel-hyung looks like a sincere person so I trusted him immediately.”

 

“Oh, naive boy. You should not be too trusting to people. They may become the wolves-” I slapped a hand to Daehwi’s mouth, successfully shutting him off as I directed him a smile that literally tells him to shut-up-or-I’ll-castrate-you-in-the-next-few-seconds.

 

Daehwi cowered, crying about how Daniel-hyung is so scary as he hid behind Jinyoung. Meanwhile the other members were stifling their laughter. Jihoon was so unsuspecting that he didn’t even bother himself with it and resumed eating the delicious food on the table, munching everything down so eagerly.

 

“Aren’t you a big eater.” Jisung patted Jihoon’s head like a mother would, smiling fondly at him. Jihoon flashed a cute smile at him, making him coo for the nth time.

 

Thankfully after that the members didn’t ask anything more regarding my relationship with Jihoon. But I noticed Guanlin had been eyeing Jihoon silently for a while, not touching his food. He suddenly got up and went into his room, then came out again bringing out a magazine in his hand. He flipped to a certain page and looked at it before looking back at Jihoon.

 

“I knew I’ve seen you somewhere. No wonder your face look so familiar. You’re the model in this, aren’t you?” Guanlin pointed to a page showing a boy posing fashionably while wearing edgy-looking clothes. The others were crowding around Guanlin and taking a look as well, genuinely curious.

 

“Yes, that’s me.” Jihoon admitted with reds dusting his cheeks.

 

“...Indeed.” Guanlin looked starstruck. The others more or less mimicked the same reaction as they sank in the revelation. Guanlin had a blush on his face as he continued. “Your face is really my style, Jihoon-hyung. I’ve been a fan of you since you first appeared in last year’s autumn issue.”

 

Jihoon smiled bashfully at Guanlin, thanking him.

 

“Our Guanlin here is an aspiring model himself. He’s currently finding a modeling agency who would accept him.” Jisung made an effort to explain in regards of Guanlin’s admiration for Jihoon. Jihoon nodded in understanding, making a sound of surprise. It was obvious that he looked pleased to know that there’s another person who shared the same passion as him, because after that he and Guanlin started talking enthusiastically about modeling stuffs only the two of them would understand. It successfully excluded the rest of us from the conversation.

 

For some reason, I felt uneasy looking at this exchange between Jihoon and Guanlin. The fact that both of them were sharing something that I didn’t have suddenly causing me to feel something akin to jealousy which subsequently made me feel so petty and ridiculous. I didn’t like this feeling at all.

 

Not to mention there was also Woojin who was trying to flirt with Jihoon at any chance he can get. I knew Woojin loved to tease people, especially with someone as cute and pretty like Jihoon. The sight of him trying to be uncharacteristically lovey-dovey with Jihoon all of a sudden was actually really funny. Looking as Jihoon kept eating, Woojin kept on putting food on his plate or feed him acting like a sweet boyfriend. Obviously it was just a joke, and the other members were laughing loudly at it, but I couldn’t really bring myself to enjoy the scene.

 

Dinner went on with an overall relaxed and light mood. After everyone finished eating, Jihoon went to help clean up the table and wash the dishes with Minhyun. The rest of the members hung out in the living room to watch a late night movie together, on Jisung’s insistence. A famous horror movie that just came out. Something about a possessed little girl’s doll. They invited me to watch too, so I did. Jihoon joined too, and we sat beside each other. But I lasted only half an hour into the movie before I decided I was too sleepy to continue on.

 

I left for my room with a big yawn. Jihoon must’ve noticed I’m going in because he was trailing after me and went into the room just after me.

 

“Oh, Jihoon-ah, going to sleep too?”

 

“Yeah, in a while. I just need to talk to hyung for a bit, if hyung don’t mind…”

 

“Sure.” I sat down on my bed. He sat down on his too, facing me with a tensed posture. I urged him on with a smile, and it seemed to have its effect as he visibly relaxed after that.

 

“I just want to say thanks. This is such a warm home with warm people living in them. I really had a great night just talking over dinner like that. It’s the first time I’ve ever had such a lively dinner in my whole life.” He confessed in a small but happy voice, and there was warmth in his eyes. I sensed something sounded wrong from the way he said it. And that was probably why a few seconds later, his face became sad again.

 

“I knew I still owe you an explanation, just please give me some more time. I promise I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

 

I watched him for a while as he fiddled with his fingers, eyes looking anywhere but me.

 

“You know…” I got up from my bed and walked towards him, kneeling in front of him to look straight at his face. He hesitantly met my eyes. “You don’t need to force yourself. If you don’t feel like explaining, you don’t have to and I’ll still be okay with it. Just take your time as much as you need. Rest and get back up on your feet again, that’s the most important thing.”

 

I was smiling as I spoke to him as gently as I could, afraid of scaring him off when his vulnerability was so exposed like this. My smile froze though when suddenly I saw a tear trailed down his cheek.

 

Jihoon was crying.

 

Oh, shit. I had experience in comforting girls who cried to me in the past, but no experience at all in comforting guys. And I really didn’t want to make a wrong move when it comes to Jihoon. So I panicked in my mind when I saw the tears that kept on streaming in rivulets down those pink cheeks.

 

“Hey, hey…” I soothed softly, patting his head. “Don’t cry, please.” I was being as gentle as I can to him. Seeing him cry like this made my heart ached, and I wanted to comfort him so badly. “Don’t cry, don’t cry.” That was the only thing that I can repetitively say as I pulled his head into my arms, letting him cry into my chest. He must’ve gone through a lot to suddenly break down like this.

 

“Hyung, I’m really scared…” He sobbed hard, face burying into my chest. I felt the dampness as his tears stained the front of my shirt, and together with it the heavy emotions he poured out to me as if the dam that withhold everything within him had been broken.

 

I rubbed the back of his head, embracing his body protectively in my arms as I whispered into his ear soothingly, reassuringly. “Don’t be scared. I’m here for you, Jihoon-ah.”

 

I held him that way until I felt his sobs gradually quietened and body growing lax. He fell asleep in my arms within minutes.

 

Letting go of him and lying his body on the bed, I noted his swollen eyes and how exhausted he looked. Brushing off the strands of hair from his face, I allowed myself to watch his face a little longer, a sense of sadness and resolve taking over me at the same time.

 

I may not be able to help him with his problems for now, but I promise I’ll be here for him whenever he needs me no matter what.

 


End file.
